sweatbox

American  

[swet-boks] / ˈswɛtˌbɒks /

noun

1. a sauna or other enclosure for sweating.

2. any uncomfortably warm room or environment.

3. a box or cell in which a prisoner is punished or given the third degree.

4. a device for removing moisture from tobacco leaves, figs, raisins, etc.

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sweatbox British  

/ ˈswɛtˌbɒks /

noun

1. a device for causing tobacco leaves, fruit, or hides to sweat

2. a very small pen or cubicle where a pig is fattened intensively

3. informal a narrow room or cell for a prisoner

4. informal any place where a person sweats on account of confinement, heat, etc

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Etymology

Origin of sweatbox

First recorded in 1870–75; sweat + box ¹

Example Sentences

England subjected themselves to the subcontinent sweatbox and watched their World Cup dreams begin to melt away.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2023

Friday’s second most dangerous band, Acid Tongue, turned Neumos into a veritable sweatbox burning with good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll adrenaline.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 24, 2023

In this rickety sweatbox club, several micro-generations of musicians divined an experimental fusion of hip-hop, electronic, jazz, R&B and psychedelia.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2023

It’s the last day of June and 03 Greedo is on the other end of the phone speaking from inside a sweatbox Texas state prison where he’s spent the last two years.

From Washington Post • Aug. 21, 2020

After all, neither one of us was dressed for an appearance in Lake Forest, after what we’d been through the day before and then spending the night inside Cade’s sweatbox of a camper shell.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith